-~NATSU'S POV~-

I kissed her.

I might had been aiming for the lips but she quickly put her hand on my mouth, putting her finger on her lips to tell me to shut up. She signaled me to listen and so I did. It seemed that some people were coming in this direction

Why didn't I notice it before?

Because you were so busy trying to kiss her.

Ugh, I hate you brain.

Never will I ever say that I love you too.

Stupid-

"Hey, we even don't know if they came here." I heard a guy speak.

"We saw them running here. In this direction. It's dark. They must be close by, so keep your mouth shut and try not to make a sound." It seemed like they were only two guys, and one was a little older than the other. One of them must have a lot of weight, judging by the heavy footsteps. I turned to Lucy and she had wrapped her hands around her lips tightly. I ran my hand through my hair and sighed lightly.

"We'll quietly run away, okay? Follow me." I softly whispered to her, getting a no in result. That's when I saw one of Luce's hand on her foot and her glossy eyes.

"Climb on me." I whispered to her and signaled her to my back. She silently wrapped her arms around my neck and got in a hugging position. When I felt them coming near us, I picked a stone and threw it in other direction. I heard them stopping.

"Did you hear it?" The younger one said. I peeked and saw them hearing for further voices. I mentally vowed to get out of here and threw the other stone in other direction, Lucy doing the same thing all of a sudden. As soon as they started running in the direction where we threw the stone and got out of sight, I grabbed Lucy's thighs and sprinted in the opposite direction. I knew the woods like the back of my hand so I ran straight to my nest. I heard them scream and run towards our direction, but what they don't-

Snap!

I was almost caught in a trap that a hunter must've built but thankfully, I dodged it. I heard another snap and two screams. Knowing they were caught in a trap, I smirked, mentally screamed a 'yay' and still kept running. When I got out of the forest, I saw the gates open and a car entering. I sprint into full speed and made it inside. That's when I remembered Luce was on my back and started panting and panicking. Jellal and Erza got out of the car and quickly made their way towards us.

"What happened?" Jellal asked at the same Erza yelled, "What did you do this time?"

"Luce and I just- Luce? You okay?" I turned my head around, seeing Lucy with no emotion in her eyes and not breathing.

"LUCY!" We all screamed at the same time, making her snap out of her trance and looking around, breathing again.

"What- where- how?" She clutched her head tightly and huffed.

"Let's take you inside." I said and started walking to the front door.

"Wait," she said and I stopped, "Put me down."

"Luce-

"Please." It was barely a whisper. A whisper that showed how... Tired... She was.

"You're hurt. At least let me carry you till Wendy sees you." I softly spoke. She sighed.

"Jellal? Can you please take me home?" She turned and spoke to him.

"Yes."

"Right now," she squeaked, "Please."

"Let Wendy see you first, Lucy. Natsu says that you're hurt." Erza matched my footsteps and spoke to her.

"I'm fine." She mumbled. I let out a huff of breath and kept walking till I got to my room. I saw Wendy come running in and looking back and forth between me who had his head in his hands and Luce just sitting on the bed, emotionless.

"What happened?" Wendy asked.

"Something happened with Luce's-

"I. Said. I'm. Fine. That means I'm fine. Period." Lucy gritted her teeth and looked away. I tried to protest but she glared daggers at me, daring me to even utter a word through her eyes. I gulped and turned away.

"Well it seems like you twisted your ankle so it'll be fine in 2 days. Keep icing it." Wendy bit her lip after seeing Lucy's foot. She excused herself and went out, closing the door. When I sensed the awkward silence getting worse, I stood up. "I'll get the ice pad." I went out of the room and walked downstairs in defeat. Erza and Wendy were having a heated discussion and Jellal was casually lounging on the couch.

"What happened Natsu?" Jellal asked, gaining both Erza's and Wendy's attention. I glanced at Wendy and she nodded, walking back into her room and closing the door shut.

"Wendy told us about your argument and then Lucy ran off with you behind her. What then?" He asked again.

"Two bastards saw us running and came after us. The younger one was 18 and his shoe size felt like 9 or 10. The other one had a gruff voice but sounded like he was 25 above. Shoe size, 8 maybe? The younger one was lean but tall. Weighted less than the other. They weren't experts or anything, maybe ordinary robbers."

"Time to dig in again."

"They still might be in there. It was a trap I laid in south wing."

"Jeez Natsu, cut some slack." He tousled up his hair further out of stress. He looked at Erza and she nodded, who unfolded her arms and walked to me while Jellal made his way to the door.

"How's she?" She asked. I rubbed my forehead and shrugged. She sighed and whacked my head.

"What the hell?!" I yelled at her before adding, "She twisted her ankle. Will heal in two days."

"She looks so down and weak. Her fever has healed but why is she still so vulnerable? If you-

"She's getting her memories back."

"-dare you- WHAT?!" Erza screamed with her eyes wide.

"Calm down. She's been getting snippets that are stressing her out. Doc said it won't be long before she gets all of them." I bowed my head and sat on the arm rest of a recliner.

"And?" Erza asked.

"And what?" I questioned back, my volume low.

"How are you going to face her when she gets it all back? How will you tell her why you did what you did?"

"I don't wanna think about it." I stood up and made my way to the freezer to fetch an ice pad for Luce.

"Think about it Natsu. You need to be prepared, considering how-

"I know! Okay? I fucking know! I just..."

"I know too, but still." She smiled slightly, gave a light squeeze on my shoulder and made her way out of the house. I quickly collected myself, took a deep breath and got back into my room. Luce had laid down on the bed, lost in the thought. She was unconsciously playing with her index fingers and staring at the ceiling. I sat on the bed and gently pulled her foot to my lap, icing it. She flinched and tried to get up. I let her go before she rested her head on the bedside and let out a long sigh. I moved closer to her, pulled her leg back on my lap and got back to work. She bowed her head and rapidly kept fiddling with her long, slim fingers.

"Luce," I looked up at her and said, "Talk to me, please."

"What's there to talk about?" She mumbled.

"Anything. Anything at all. Ask me questions and I'll answer them as best as possible." I rushed out.

"Who were those guys?"

"I don't know. Maybe some robbers?" I shrugged. She nodded and stopped fidgeting all of a sudden, moving closer to me.

"Lisanna."

"What about her?"

"What happened?"

"She went to Chicago for studies which is what they said but I think it was something else." She nodded and was biting her lip. Her lips parted, but she closed them again. After taking a deep breath, she got back to asking questions.

"You said something about her leaving you at the worst time or something? What... Was it?"

"I was a stupid kid back then. I developed a slight crush on her, so we dated for sometime before she broke up and disappeared one day. Mira told me her parents took her to Chicago for some time and she's not sure when she'll be back. At that time, my family was always being threatened. I had learned how to fight, use weapons and drive like a pro. My parents found out about it and so I got into trouble. Mest was appointed as our official driver and we had to have some sort of bodyguard with us all the time. Our car had some issues so he took us to a garage where Gajeel worked. We instantly got on each other's neck but soon became friends. My parents were not okay with that either but they let it pass when they saw Gajeel was trained too and might keep me safe. What they didn't know was that Gajeel was a bigger egotistical troublemaker and we both got into big messes together."

"That's why Gajeel always looks like a smug gangster." She giggled and I smiled.

"Then we met the most responsible guy of the current gang, Jellal. Well, it's quite cliché but Jellal had a bone to pick with us after we wrecked his garage to fix our rides but Erza happened to pass by and saw the commotion. That's when we found out he is a good guy." Luce shivered and I raised my brow, asking her what she had in mind.

"I can't imagine how she'd be like when she saw you both." I laughed and continued, "Oh you should know that. Gajeel and I were brawling first. She was coming at us in full speed and about to shout but Jellal jumped in and hit us. She stood still and had her jaw dropped. When all of us saw her, Jellal stopped mid punch and gawked at her while we felt like our souls will leave our bodies." By now, Luce was howling with laughter, her head thrown back and all worries long forgotten.

"Don't stop. Continue." She giggled and motioned me to continue.

"And that's how we got introduced. Erza did give us a good beating before Jellal stepped in and saved us. Since then, he'd been hanging out with us. We found out that he was an ex gangster and always had very useful info."

I looked back at her foot and continued, "That time was quite stressful for me. I started developing some intelligence -yes I have brains that I don't want to use- and started growing up for real. I realized it wasn't necessary to always have a girl when you can have food and turned out to be like this." She shook her head and laughed again.

"I'm sorry Luce. I'm sorry for yelling at you and Wendy. I realize where I was wrong and I promise I'll try my best to improve myself." I held her hands and apologized sincerely, trying to read her but she had her head bowed too.

"I'd always wanted to have a sister, Natsu. I wanted to play with her, spoil her a little, be her gossip partner, become her best friend and be a guardian for her... But... I had lost that power. I had lost that wish when I lost my sister."

"You had a sister?" I asked her, even though I knew it.

"Her name was Michelle. She was a cute little baby, always playing with me and making me happy... Until that day... That day she... She..."

"It's okay Luce. You don't have to tell if it's difficult for you." I softly caressed her cheek to which she smiled lightly.

"My point is that Wendy is like the sister I never had or could get. All my life I had been imprisoned in my own house... In my own thoughts. I know how it's like. I don't want her to think of you as an enemy nor want her to be uncomfortable around you. Instead I want her to be able to tell you everything freely- rely on you- have trust that you'll be there for her no matter what. I didn't have somebody like that. I know how much these little things are to be taken under consideration. I want her to cherish what only you both can have. It's the bond between siblings. It's a sense of trust too. Treat her like she's your equal and always have her back." She kept smiling as she explained it all to me. I was touched, to say the least. I had never thought about her perspective of things and Luce was right. Wendy was scared to tell me about it. I don't ever want that. I'm her brother, not her enemy. She's my family, and family sticks together.

"Thank you, Luce." I hugged her, nuzzling my nose in her hair and breathing in her scent. She patted my back lightly and suddenly squeezed me tightly.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. I rocked her back and forth lightly and asked, "For what?"

"Everything. Nothing. I just thought I should say it." She sniffled and nuzzled her face deep in my scarf that was wrapped around my neck. She took a deep breath and I felt a tear drop fall down on my collarbone from her eye. 

If she keeps doing that, I swear to God I won't be able to control myself.

"Luce? Why're you crying?" I softly asked her, trying to look at her face. She quickly got back to hiding her face in my scarf, clutching it with her hands tightly. I took my scarf off of myself and wrapped it around her. She suddenly looked up at me with wide and swollen eyes as I looked at her lovingly and kept making circles with my thumb on her back. 

"Your... Scarf..."

"What about it?" I tilted my head to the right slightly? She parted her lips but shut them, later biting them in hesitation. At that moment, I just wanted them on mine. 

Desperately.

"You never give it to anybody. Never." She looked anywhere but me. I held her chin and made her look at me.

"So? Can't I give it to you?" I smiled lightly. 

"But you never give it to anyone. Not even Wendy. You wash it by yourself."

"Who told you that?" I gave her a lopsided grin, happy because I know where it'll lead me.

"Um... People?" She smiled sheepishly and tucked her bottom lip in.

"They also should have told you how special you are to me," I held her soft, porcelain face in both of my hands, "They also should've told you that I'd never give it to anyone unless it's you," I wiped her tears with my thumbs as she smiled, "And they should've told you that no one deserves to have it except you, so whenever you need it, you and only you can keep it. No one else should handle it. Understood?" 

"Aye sir!" She saluted and we laughed. I heard my phone ring and read Wendy's text.

"Dinner's ready. Come on." I started standing up but sat back again.

"Should I ask Wendy to get it up here? We can eat in the balcony." She nodded and I went downstairs to help Wendy.

It's time to make amends and sort things out.